Top 10 Best Performing Term Insurance Plans in India

Insurance in general has garnered more attention in the last quarter of 2015, partly due to the changing outlook of people towards insurance products and also due to the fact that the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has given a green to insurers to allowed increased stake of foreign partners in insurance companies born out of joint ventures. As of the latest mandate, foreign partners can increase their stake in the company to 40%. An increased stake in the insurance sector just goes on to say how confident foreign investors are considering the growth of the insurance business in India. For the insured, it means better stability and more transparent policies as well as streamlined processes for availing insurance products.

Out of all other forms of insurance, by far the most important and crucial is life insurance. Under life insurance, traditional life insurance schemes as well as term insurance schemes are available. While traditional schemes come with a plethora of options, often needing the help of an advisor and substantially larger funds to pay for the premium, term insurances are relatively simpler. A term insurance scheme is normally a product that allows a life cover for a predefined range of time. In case the insured passes away within the same time and the policy is in force (is active), a death benefit will be payable. A term insurance doesn’t have too many clauses to deal with and is the most economical insurance product in terms of premium payment.

Online term insurance plans have an extra edge over offline term plans, in the sense that their premiums are about 30-40% cheaper than offline policies. In addition to the entire application process being online, simpler details allow one to quickly choose a product without having to go through an advisor or agent.

Some of the best performing term insurance plans in India, as of November 2015, have been chosen based on the criteria mentioned below

Affordability (in terms of premium payment)

Service Quality (through the policy buying process as well as policy life)

Ease of Purchase online

General feedback on policies

Brand name

Top 10 Term Insurance Plans in India

Term Insurance Plans

Min. Entry Age (years)

Maximum Cover Age (years)

Sum Assured (INR)

Minimum

Maximum

Premium

Minimum

Maximum

ICICI Prudential iProtect

10 years

30 years

20

75

3 lakhs

N/A

12247

HDFC Life Click 2 Protect

10 years

30 years

18

65

10 lakhs

10 crores

11910

LIC e-Term Plan

10 years

35 years

18

75

50 lakhs

N/A

16405

Max Life Online Term Plan

10 years

35 years

18

70

25 lakhs

100 crores

8314

Kotak Life Preferred e-Term

10 years

40 years

18

75

25 lakhs

N/A

8287

SBI Life eShield

5 years

30 years

18

70

20 lakhs

N/A

13135

Bajaj Allianz iSecure

10 years

30 years

18

70

20 lakhs

N/A

13438

Aegon Religare iTerm

5 years

40 years

18

75

10 lakhs

N/A

8202

Aviva Life i-Life

10 years

35 years

18

70

25 lakhs

N/A

3389

Tata AIA iRaksha TROP

10 years

35 years

18

75

50 lakhs

N/A

17854

ICICI Prudential iProtect: With a claim/settlement ratio of 94.1%, ICICI Prudential offers a smartly created plan known as iProtect. An optional rider of Accidental Death Benefit can also be availed and the maximum sum assured as per that is INR 50 lakhs

HDFC Life’s Click 2 Protect: A term insurance from HDFC Life which has an exemplary claim/settlement ratio of 94%. The maximum sum assured is INR 10 crores and there is an advanced version of the plan known as Click 2 Protect Plus

LIC’se-Term Plan: LIC has the highest claim settlement ratio at 98.14% though its online term insurance plan might be costly compared to plans offered by private insurers. e-Term plan is about 35% cheaper than LIC’s offline term plans

Max Life Insurance’s Online Term Plan: One of the lowest premiums for term insurance schemes are offered by Max Life. There is an option for Accidental Death Benefit Rider and with slight differences in the premium amounts, one can opt for either of two options apart from the basic plan. These options are

Basic Life Cover with Monthly Income

Basic Life Cover with Increasing Monthly Income

Kotak Life’s Preferred e-Term Plan: Among the plans that have the lowest premium amounts, Kotak Life offers a basic plan as well as a Recurring Payout that allows the nominee of the insured to get a fixed amount in payment for the next 15 years post the death of the insured

SBI Life’se Shield: Has a higher premium amount but is lesser than LIC’s term plans. There are four options available under eShield, namely

Basic Plan

Basic Plan with Accidental Death Benefit

Increasing cover (Basic sum assured increases at a simple interest rate of 10% per annum after every 5th year without increasing the premium amount)

Increasing cover with Accidental Death Benefit

Bajaj Allianz’si Secure: A term insurance wherein the applicant can opt for individual or joint life insurance coverage

Aegon Religare’si Term Plan: Though Aegon Religare has a relatively lower claim/settlement ratio of around 81%, it offers one of the cheapest plans as per the premium rates. The plan can also have optional riders for Critical Illness and Accidental Death Benefit. The former rider can waive off future premiums on diagnosis of any illness mentioned in the policy document

Aviva Life’si - Life Term Plan: The cheapest term insurance in this batch as per the premium rates. Though there are no additional options available, females get an extra 5% rebate on premium rates

Tata AIA’si Raksha TROP: Among the highest of premium rates in the market. This plan has an Accidental Death and Dismemberment Rider that can be opted for. Offering premium payment modes as single, limited and regular pay, this policy can also be surrendered and some portion of the premium can be recovered as per the policy regulations